Against the backdrop of a Naples that is as seductive as it is perilous and a world undergoing epochal change, the story of a lifelong friendship is told with unmatched honesty and brilliance. The four volumes in this series constitute a long remarkable story that readers will return to again and again, and every return will bring with it new revelations.
A beautifully bleak conclusion to the Neapolitan Novels.
The Neapolitan novels absorbed me from the very first book, and rarely have I been so enchanted by a cast of characters. Ferrante's writing is brutal, honest and full of depth, allowing the reader to really fall in to the difficulties of growing up and starting a family in Naples from the 50s to the present day.
Lila and Elena are friends and rivals - constantly clashing with each other or sharing emotional moments together. In this, the fourth book, they are arguing more often than they are civil to each other.
'The Story of the Lost Child' took me a good long time to read in comparison to the first three, it was much more difficult to digest, and towards the end the real heartbreak is apparent. I rarely find myself with a "book hangover", but I did feel a sense of loss when I realised that I had finished the last sentence.
This touching and deeply crafted story makes for bleak and beautiful reading. Start at book one 'My Brilliant Friend'.
Thank you to Turnaround Books for the Advanced Proof Copy.
Available at Waterstones
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